You Haven't Got A Wand?
by haroldthebarrel
Summary: Ok, I know, bad title, but my first story. PoV of Dean, starts just before Battle of Hogwarts, DT/LL, will obviously have less JK dialogue as it progresses. Ok, I know, bad summary too. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1: Fighting

**Disclaimer: **I own none of the characters in this story, they are all JK's, and I also include a fair amount of her dialogue in this chapter, which is also hers, believe it or not. Anything else I have to say?

**Author's note: **This is my first story, so I'm not really sure about what I'm doing yet... I have begun a story that I don't know I will finish, but I wanted to post this to see what people think of it and whether they have any ideas about what could happen after the Battle of Hogwarts...?

**EDIT: **I've cleaned this chapter up a little bit, I think, so I've reloaded it. Hopefully it has worked and you are reading this message...

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**Chapter 1: Fighting**

"Isn't it great Dean? We're going back to Hogwarts, back to Hogwarts, and Harry's there, and we'll overthrow the Carrows at last!" Dean was excitedly hurrying down the dark corridor after Luna, her perfect blonde hair trailing behind her as she turned back around to face where she was going.

"Is this really going to lead us to the DA? I mean, doesn't Snape have all of the secret passageways sealed?"

"I think this one's different Dean... Neville told us to go this way. I like Neville." The trust in Luna's voice was comforting to Dean. He knew how much the DA meant to Luna, as well as just having friends like Neville and Harry. And him, he guessed now.

Soon they came to a door, just like the one hiding behind the portrait of the girl in The Hog's Head. He could hear Neville's voice now, talking seriously: "...loyal to Dumbledore, loyal to you."

"Isn't this exciting?" Luna pushed the door open, and shouted, "We got your message, Neville! Hello you three, I thought you must be here!"

"Dean!" The bruised, bloodied and swollen face of Seamus was one of the first Dean saw – it was horrifying, but he was delighted to see his friend after so long rushing up to him and hugging him warmly.

"Seamus! What happened to you?" Dean looked around the room; it was large and well furnished, with hammocks hanging around the edges under Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff banners, and a generous supply of sofas and armchairs. The room was crowded with students, many displaying similar injuries to Seamus (particularly Neville), and all of whose attentions were fixed on Harry Potter, not many looking as happy as they ought to, with their only hope in their presence.

"Oh, just a few scratches from the Carrows... but it's OK, Harry's here now, and we'll... we'll get rid of them." Seamus sounded a lot more uncertain than Luna, and indeed, it seemed that Harry did have other ideas... Dean had thought as much, from what Harry seemed to be doing in the past few weeks. Dean wanted to know how all of these students were here, in Hogwarts, in this wonderful room away from the Carrows, but there was clearly some sort of argument going on presently.

"Listen," Harry said to Luna and Neville, who had been talking to him, looking flustered, "I'm sorry, but that's not what we came back for. There's something we've got to do, and then-"

"You're going to leave us in this mess?" demanded Michael Corner, and it seemed many of the other occupants of the room were thinking along similar lines.

"No!" said Ron, stepping forwards from behind Harry. "What we're doing will benefit everyone in the end, it's all about trying to get rid of You-Know-Who –"

"Then let us help!" shouted Neville. "We want to be part of it!" Dean wanted to help, too, but also wanted to give Harry his chance to do whatever he needed to do first. However, any further argument was stopped by the re-opening of the door to the passageway by which they had entered, and in came some more familiar faces: Dean's ex-girlfriend Ginny (he still felt a little uncomfortable as Ginny stepped onto the floor beside him, looking at Harry), the Weasley twins and their friend and Potterwatch host, Lee Jordan.

"Aberforth's getting a bit ratty," said Fred cheerily, raising his hand in welcome as he clambered in. "He wants a kip, and his bar's turned into a railway station." No sooner had he said this than another DA member, the small, Chinese girl Cho Chang, entered the room, smiling, holding up her replica of the galleon, and saying, "I got the message." She went to sit on a sofa, next to fellow Ravenclaw Michael Corner.

"So what's the plan then, Harry?" said George eagerly. Harry looked yet more flustered, positively faint, and clutched at his forehead.

"There isn't one!"

"Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favourite kind," said Fred.

"You've got to stop this!" Harry said angrily to Neville. "What did you call them all back for? This is insane-"

"We're fighting, aren't we?" said Dean hopefully, amazed that Harry was not expecting this. He took out his galleon too. "The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight!" A sudden thought struck him, stupidly. "I'll have to get a wand though-"

"You haven't got a _wand -_?" began Seamus. Dean looked at him, sadly.

Then Ron spoke again. "Why can't they help?"

"What?" asked Harry, still looking dazed and confused. He did not look well.

"They can help," said Ron, and started murmuring to Harry and Hermione.

"You haven't got a wand?" asked Seamus again.

"Yeah, no, I got caught by a bunch of Snatchers, and-"

"You got caught?" asked his friend, looking horrified. Dean thought about how much had happened since they had last met, to both of them if Seamus' appearance was anything to go by.

"Yeah, I did, and they took my wand, but Harry and Dobby got us out-"

"You were with Harry?"

"Right up till this morning... it's a long story."

"Did you know he was going to break into Gringotts?"

"He did what?" asked Dean. He hadn't had a chance to see Bill that afternoon, and there was no other way for him to have heard anything.

"OK," said Harry over the noise that had broken out, and Dean grew excited again. "There's something we need to find. Something... something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It's here at Hogwarts, but we don't know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw." Harry looked around the room hopefully, and Dean wondered what it was that Harry wasn't telling them. "Has anyone ever heard of an object like that? Has anyone ever come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?"

Luna, who was sitting with Ginny, said earnestly, "Well, there's her lost diadem. I told you about it, remember, Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Daddy's trying to duplicate it." Dean remembered something about a tiara that was one of Xenophilius Lovegood's current projects, as a passing comment from Luna in the last few weeks.

"Yeah, but the lost diadem," said Michael Corner rudely, "is _lost_, Luna. That's sort of the point."

"When was it lost?" asked Harry, desperation showing in his face.

"Centuries ago, they say," said Cho. "Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked, but nobody's ever found a trace of it, have they?" she checked with the other Ravenclaws. Dean could see the disappointment in Harry's face.

"Sorry, but what _is _a diadem?" asked Ron.

"It's a kind of crown," said Terry Boot. "Ravenclaw's was supposed to have magical properties, enhance the wisdom of the wearer."

Luna began to agree with him – "Yes, Daddy's Wrackspurt siphons-" she started hopefully – but was interrupted by Harry, not caring to hide his impatience.

"And none of you have ever seen anything that looks like it?" Harry was really getting cut up about this diadem. The Ravenclaws shook their heads, but Cho said,

"If you'd like to see what the diadem's supposed to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry? Ravenclaw's wearing it in her statue."

Harry clutched his head again and said something to Ron and Hermione, then looked at Cho, and turned back to them. "Listen, I know it's not much of a lead, but I'm going to go and look at this statue, at least to find out what the diadem looks like. Wait for me and keep – the other one – safe."

Dean knew Harry had to keep something secret, but he was being frustratingly mysterious. Cho was about to lead him out, when Ginny said, fiercely, "No, Luna will take Harry, won't you, Luna?"

"Ooh, yes, I'd like to," said Luna happily, leaving Cho looking obviously disappointed. Dean, who had been about to turn back to Seamus to find out what had been happening since he'd been out of the loop, looked up at Luna.

Harry then asked Neville, "How do we get out?"

"Over here," Neville replied, and showed them over to a cupboard in the corner. Luna watched excitedly as Neville opened the door to reveal a staircase. "It comes out somewhere different every day, so they've never been able to find it. Only trouble is, we never know exactly where we're going to end up when we go out. Be careful, Harry, they're always patrolling the corridors at night."

"No problem", said Harry. "See you in a bit." He led Luna hurriedly up the staircase, and Dean felt a strange pang for having to let her out of his sight.

"Any idea what that was about?" asked Seamus, looking worried.

"Not a clue, mate... oh, it's good to be back I guess." Dean gave his friend a smile, and they sat down on a free sofa under the golden lion hanging on the wall. "He wouldn't tell us anything he was doing at Shell Cottage... I think he reckons he's got some secret job Dumbledore needed doing."

"What?" asked Seamus, trying to figure out what Dean was telling him. "Come on, Dean, how've you been? I was dead worried when I heard what they were going to do to muggle-borns..."

Dean looked at his best friend's mangled face, and sighed. "Well, we're going to fight now, aren't we?"

"I hope so..." They looked across at Neville, who was talking with Fred and George in the middle of the room. Ron and Hermione were sitting beyond them, talking quickly in hushed tones. At that moment, Hermione gasped and said something about "...the chamber... bathroom!" and immediately ran across the room, grabbing Ron by the wrist, and up the stairs. Dean stood up, and Neville shouted, "Where are you going?" but they continued up the stairs.

"What was that about?" said Seamus, rising too. Dean did not reply, but walked over to Neville instead.

"Are we doing this, Neville?"

"You bet!" said Fred and George together.

"Yeah," said Neville, "We're sending the message to the rest of the DA, you know, Alicia, Angelina, everyone else who's left-"

"I'm sure Aberforth will love that," said Dean, thinking of the grumbling he had received upon apparating into the poor man's living room.

"And hopefully we can get loads of people in here," Neville continued. "Voldemort needs to know he's got competition." He grinned grimly.

Dean turned to Seamus, who was also grimacing. "Hear that?" he said. "We're fighting at last!"

They sat back down as Neville worked his fake galleon.

"So where are we?" asked Dean, trying to get a hold on the situation in the momentary respite. "How did you get a safe place, where you can't be found? Wait – is this the Room of Requirement?"

"That's right Dean, Neville came here to hide from the Carrows, and he realised it had everything we need in here, and he's great at getting it to do exactly what we want, it's brilliant!" Seamus beamed at him.

"Bloody brilliant," agreed Dean. "Seriously, what have these Carrow people been doing to you?"

Seamus told him about the reign of terror to which Snape and the Carrows had been subjecting them, and the punishments given to those who stood out against them.

"The Cruciatus curse?!" asked Dean in horror, when one of the Death Eaters' "methods" had been mentioned.

"Yeah, well, it's not bad after a while. You sort of build up a resilience to it." Dean just looked horrified. "I guess that's what we've been doing, fighting the Carrows like a curse. If we just let them get on with it, they'd have a lot more power."

"But they've driven you into hiding?" asked Dean, not meaning to insult.

"Well yeah, the Carrows got a bit desperate about the whole situation, and after they started going after Neville's gran-"

"Neville's gran?!"

"Oh yeah, they thought that'd be the only way to get at Neville, he's been the ringleader all year. Anyway, it's just about up to boiling point now, and yeah, most of us have been forced to hide up here, but the more desperate they get, the more the Carrows are hated. It's all Neville's idea, of course."

Dean was impressed and horrified at the same time. He had had no idea these things were going on at the place he had always believed to be the safest place in the world...

"But what about you, Dean?" Seamus asked nervously. "I was... I was really worried..."

"Look, I'm fine Seamus. You know I couldn't have proven any blood status, and they were going to come and find me, weren't they? So yeah, I was on the run, and-"

"And then we heard on Potterwatch, on Neville's radio... they said that maybe, maybe you had..." Seamus, again, could not finish his sentence. Dean grew cold, though, because he knew to which night Seamus was referring, and remembered Ted Tonks telling him to run as he and Dirk Creswell fought...

"Hey, look, as I said, we're fighting now, Seamus. Fighting. This can end at last. I reckon Harry's going to do something, he's got a plan, and we can defeat You-Know-Who." Dean felt he had to keep repeating it before he could believe it, almost persuading himself rather than Seamus, who looked a little brighter again now, although it was hard to tell through all the injuries and scars.

The mood between the two of them grew lighter as more people began arriving; the Order of the Phoenix had somehow been informed, and Oliver Wood came too, after Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnett and Angelina Johnson arrived with their galleons in their hands. Soon, Arthur, Molly and Bill Weasley had arrived with Fleur Delacour, Remus Lupin and Kingsley Shacklebolt, and the room became crowded and boisterous. There was clearly some sort of nervous tension around the room, but everyone was very glad to have something happening at last.

After a while, Harry and Luna came back into sight running down the stairs, Harry slipping the last few as he took in the room.

"They're back, Seamus!" Dean called immediately.

The dishevelled, scruffy but very excited Lupin rushed over to Harry. "Harry, what's happening?"

"Voldemort's on his way, they're barricading the school – Snape's run for it – what are you doing here? How did you know?"

Fred Weasley explained, but Dean looked over to Seamus to see the look of exhilaration on his face – this was it, Voldemort was coming. He must be, if Harry was saying the name.

"What first, Harry?" called George. "What's going on?"

"They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organised," Harry said. "We're fighting."

The room exploded around Dean, and everyone rushed to the staircase at once, the entire might of Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix hurrying to save the wizarding world. Dean saw Luna in the corner, and quickly grabbed her hand – even now, with all the adrenalin coursing through his body, it gave him butterflies – and called, "Come on, Luna!" She raced after him and they all squeezed up the secret stairway together. Dean noticed as he was forced up the stairs by the throng that Harry and the Weasleys were not moving towards the exit, Ginny with her arms crossed looking fiercely at her mother.

It was a race to the Great Hall. Students in their night clothes, with dressing gowns or travelling cloaks, were all going in the same direction, a growing conglomeration of excited teenagers, now filling up a corridor, now flooding a moving staircase, now bursting into the entrance hall, now exploding into the Great Hall. It was lit by a multitude of floating candles, mirroring the myriad pinpricks of light in the black canvas above that served as the enchanted ceiling. Spectral, translucent figures were appearing out of the tapestries, through the walls, to take their place as spectators around the edge of the auditorium. Centre stage, a tall, severe witch, wearing a tartan dressing gown and a tight bun to her auburn hair, strode up to the raised dais upon which stood the ornate oak chair.

The benches quickly filled, and the staff were lined up behind McGonagall, along with several Order members. Dean was seated between Luna, who had come to join him at the Gryffindor table, and Seamus, as they waited in fervent anticipation. When all the seats had been filled, McGonagall stopped her conversation with Professor Sprout, straightened herself up, and began to speak with a magically magnified voice.

"Students of Hogwarts." A nervous hush fell about the hall. "As you may now be aware, the school is in danger. He Who Must Not Be Named, Voldemort-" a few gasps "-is on his way. We are all now in grave peril, and Death Eaters may break into Hogwarts at any moment. However, there is a secret passageway remaining open by which you can leave Hogwarts and return to relative safety. The evacuation will be overseen by Mr Filch and Madam Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give the word, you will organise your house and take your charges, in an orderly fashion, to the evacuation point."

Dean could see many students looking terrified, but was glad to see Ernie Macmillan stand up and shout, "And what if we want to stay and fight?"

A few people clapped.

"If you are of age, you may stay," said Professor McGonagall.

"What about our things?" called a young Ravenclaw. "Our trunks, our owls?"

"We have no time to collect our possessions," said McGonagall solemnly. "The important thing is to get you out of here safely."

"Where's Professor Snape?" shouted a girl at the Slytherin table.

"He has, to use the common phrase," McGonagall's lips twitched slightly, "done a bunk." This brought many cheers from the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and Dean chuckled along with Seamus.

"I bet he was duelling McGonagall," said Seamus with a smile.

"We have already placed protection around the castle," continued Professor McGonagall, as people began to whisper and turn towards the figure of Harry, walking down the Gryffindor table, clearly looking for something, "but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects-"

But she could not continue as she was interrupted by a high, clear voice that suddenly seemed to come from the walls of the Great Hall themselves, echoing around the room. It was loud, cold, clipped and unmistakably Voldemort's, and with this realisation there were screams of shock and fear.

"I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood.

"Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded.

"You have until midnight."


	2. Chapter 2: Through the Double Doors

**Author's Note: **Sorry, this is a very short chapter and it's actually taken me longer to write, but oh well. I don't much like it myself, but the next couple of chapters ought to be a lot better, and the action kicks off next chapter, so hopefully the creative juices will be flowing better.

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**Chapter 2: Through The Double Doors**

"_You have until midnight."_

These words rang in each and every person's head, as silence engulfed the hall. Dean had subconsciously turned towards Harry, and now saw that almost everyone else had too. He had frozen still in the middle of the hall, an unreadable expression on his face.

To Dean's horror, Pansy Parkinson stood up from the Slytherin table and shouted, in a cold voice, "But he's there! Potter's _there_! Someone grab him!" Dean stood up in anger, appalled that his friend, the only possible saviour of the wizarding world, was being treated thus. To his surprise, so had Seamus, and Luna, and the rest of the Gryffindor table, and the Hufflepuffs, and the Ravenclaws. People began reaching for their wands, and Pansy looked venomous, the lone stander at the Slytherin table, and slowly sat back down.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," said Professor McGonagall. Dean slipped his wand back into his robes. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr Filch. If the rest of your house could follow."

McGonagall then proceeded to call each of the houses out of the hall, leaving a few Ravenclaws, a lot of older Hufflepuffs, and about half of Gryffindor house. While the professor was trying to chivvy out the underages who had stayed (to much protest, particularly from the Creevey boys, of whom Dennis was underage), Dean sat back down with Seamus and Luna.

"The nerve..." Seamus was saying. "As if we would give away Harry... and to that bastard... did you hear what he was trying to tell us?" He was positively fuming. Clearly Harry Potter had grown on Seamus in the last two years.

"I don't believe Voldemort," said Luna. "I think even if we had given Harry over, he was still going to try to fight us."

"Yeah," agreed Dean, "He wants complete control of Hogwarts. He wouldn't just let us get on with things. I can't believe he was – he was trying to get us to hand over..."

They had found their seats next to a bunch of third years, so they moved now up to Neville, who was sitting with Oliver Wood. He was also fuming about Voldemort's speech and the reaction it had got from the Slytherin seventh year, to much vehement agreement from Wood.

Dean tried to get a hold on the situation. "Don't worry Neville," he said, "We'll show him why we're sticking with Harry." Neville's expression changed to one of determination.

At that moment, Kingsley Shacklebolt stood up on the platform and began speaking. His voice was deep, calm, assured, and determined.

"We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast," he began, and instantly there was silence again. "A battle plan has been agreed upon between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers – Ravenclaw, Astronomy and Gryffindor – where they'll have a good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile, Remus, Arthur and I," he continued, pointing to the old Defence against the dark arts teacher, Lupin, and Ginny and Ron's dad in turn, "will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organise defence of the entrances of the passageways to the school-"

"Sounds like a job for us," called Fred Weasley immediately, indicating himself and his twin, and Kingsley nodded calmly.

"Alright," he said, "leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops!"

Dean saw McGonagall rush over to Harry, as Fred and George walked past talking animatedly, their father behind them. She said, "Go, Potter, go!" and returned to the stage as Harry ran away.

The leaders stood across the front of the platform, Flitwick at one corner, then McGonagall and Sprout, and on the other side of Kingsley stood Lupin and Mr Weasley, with Fred and George at the end.

"I will need a group of Ravenclaws," said Flitwick in a quivery raised voice and most of the Ravenclaws leapt up and rushed over to him. "OK, this should do... Kingsley?" The black man nodded thoughtfully. "Shall we go then?" said the diminutive Charms professor. He was soon walking briskly through the great double doors, shouting instructions excitedly to his students. Now the red-faced Herbology teacher spoke up.

"Who wants to go up to the Astronomy Tower with me?" she said and clapped her gloved hands together. "I have transported the contents of Greenhouse Three up there, where we can use the plants strategically, and we will be able to take them with us when... if the Death Eaters break into the school and we need to defend the corridors of our founders from the inside." Dean chuckled slightly at the thought of Death Eaters cowering under the weight of a barrage of Snargaluff pods.

Neville, on the other hand, leapt up beside him and said simply, "I'm going." With one fond look back at Dean, Seamus, Luna and Oliver, he strode determinedly over to Professor Sprout, who was already leading a group of serious-looking Hufflepuffs out of the hall.

"I can see that most of us left are Gryffindors," said McGonagall, noticing that the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables were nearly empty whilst there was a large chunk of the Gryffindor table taken up with students, "and I need some of you to come with me to the top of Gryffindor Tower. Do I have any volunteers?"

Dean looked at Seamus, who shook his head and said, "I want to be outside... in the action." Dean nodded, still worried about what he would do.

"I think I'm going outside too," agreed Luna, sounding like it was because she fancied a bit of fresh air. Oliver "mmm"ed his opinion. However, there were a number of students who stood up.

"Yes, that should do it," said McGonagall, stepping down and moving to the end of the hall. "We will all proceed up to the Common room and – Davies, you are not of age! Come here right now!"

A Ravenclaw boy who had been trying to pass unnoticed rose sadly and followed McGonagall out of the hall.

"I trust," said McGonagall over her shoulder as she opened the double doors, "that I can leave you to it, Kingsley?"

Kingsley smiled and nodded again. "Now," he said, "we need some people to help Messrs Weasley and Weasley here deal with the secret passageways."

"We can't do it alone," said George, smiling.

"Although we would if we could," said Fred, looking equally excited.

"OK," said Kingsley. "So who wants to help?"

"Oh alright then," said Oliver, and Dean turned around to see Oliver stand up, now smiling too. A handful of others, including most of the remaining Ravenclaws and a few sixth year Gryffindors, stood up too. Dean noticed Percy Weasley stand up as well, pushing his horn-rimmed glasses up his nose as he did. Dean remembered that Percy had not been on the best of terms with the rest of his family for the last couple of years, and that he had been working in the Ministry, and was glad to see that he was joining his brothers for the fight.

"Shall we adjourn then, George?" asked Fred.

"I think we shall," said George, and they led their band of followers out.

"Now, everyone else," said Kingsley, "all of the students and everyone from the Order of the Phoenix, will be coming out into the grounds. If you will just follow me." He strode down the middle of the Hall with Lupin and Mr Weasley. Everyone rose at once and started talking again.

"Gotta run," said Dean to Seamus and Luna, getting more nervous as he sprinted up to the three men approaching the double doors. "Mr Shacklebolt," he said breathlessly.

"Hello?" replied Kingsley, not missing a stride.

"Hello, Dean," said Lupin with a smile, and Dean was pleasantly surprised that he had been remembered. "I remember hearing your name on the radio..." Dean again saw the jet of green light, and the look on Ted Tonks' face... and blinked, getting back to the situation in hand, noticing that Lupin also had a funny expression on his face.

"Hi, yeah, um, I got caught by snatchers, and they took my wand, and, well..."

"You haven't got a wand?" finished Kingsley. Dean shook his head apologetically – well, as apologetically as he could while trying to keep up with the pace that was already nearing the school doors.

"You haven't got a wand?!" asked Mr Weasley and Lupin at the same time. Dean smiled nervously.

"Well... I don't think you should really be coming out here wandless," mused Kingsley.

"But... but I want to help. And I want to fight."

"Yes..." said Kingsley. "Well, why don't you wait here, and... no..." He turned to Mr Weasley, and said, "Arthur, can you divide everyone up into three groups please?" He then looked back up at Dean, who stood about an inch taller than him. "Someone will need to win a wand for you, I think. Yes, you'll have to live with that until you can get a better one. So you can come out, if you really want to, but make sure you stick with other people at all times, do you hear?"

"Yes... thank you Mr Shacklebolt." Dean ran back to find his friends. He saw Luna's bright hair in the middle of the three groups that were forming, and quickly made his way through the crowd.

"Luna!" he shouted.

"Oh, hi Dean," she said. "Were you talking about getting yourself a wand? I think it might be a bit difficult for you to fight any Death Eaters if you don't have one... unless you've taken any lessons from House Elves?"

"No Luna, I need someone to win a wand for me."

"Oh, OK."

"Hey Dean," said Seamus, stepping out from behind Luna.

They were then told about the different places each of the groups were going. The three of them were in Lupin's group and would be near the lake. They were told to expect the most evil curses and to be on guard for any movement.

"Constant vigilance, as the late Mad-Eye Moody would tell us all," finished Kingsley. "May we all remember his determination and spirit as we face the Death Eaters.

"So, everybody know what they're doing? Good. Now onwards!"

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**Author's Note: **Thanks for reading this chapter, please click the review button now :D

But seriously, sorry about the poor quality of writing here, I'm hoping to be a bit more author-y and a bit less ill this week. And have some more interesting stuff to write about. Still, there was one bit I liked writing in this chapter. I wonder if you can guess which it was? (Oh yeah, two if you include making up the chapter title. It may not look like much, but it meant a lot to me at the time.)

As usual, any constructive criticism is welcomed and if there are any particularly screaming errors, please let me know (I nearly uploaded this with McGonagall managing to leave the hall twice with the same group of people, once before Sprout and once after...)


	3. Chapter 3: Under Fire

**Disclaimer: **Yes, I do know that I am not JK Rowling, and that all of this belongs to her, really, apart from the details (schmetails).

**Author's Note:** Sorry I've been a long time but you don't want to know my life story, do you? Suffice to say that GCSE year is getting to me and I was very low on confidence with this. I only really continued when my anonymous (*scowls*) reviewer told me to hurry up. So, I tried completing the next chapter, and it changed a fair bit, but in the end it was going to be far too long so I ended it early (yes I know I said the chapters would probably get longer, but... they are getting shorter, and there ain't a lot I can do about it. I won't give any promises about the next chapter, like I did to my great folly last time). So... if you do decide to read this, PLEASE tell me and PLEASE give me feedback and PLEASE tell me if I should try to continue. (Sorry about long (schmong) A/N.) By the way, this chapter was nearly called "It'll Do".

Here it is, then.

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**Chapter 3: Under Fire**

The doors opened and the bitter cold of the night air attacked the warmth of the castle. Everyone simultaneously wrapped their cloaks about them, but Kingsley Shacklebolt simply strode into the night. The late spring heat of the day before had all but vanished into the cloudless night and the light that spilled out of the doors seemed to be fighting a fruitless battle with the darkness.

Nevertheless, so strode Kingsley, while Mr Weasley and Lupin followed close behind. The fighters behind them, in their three groups, were huddled close for warmth.

Dean subconsciously wrapped his arm around Luna, drawing comfort from the warmth. "Come on," he said quietly.

As they marched silently around the west side of the castle walls, Seamus took the opportunity, much to Dean's astonishment, to murmur, "I see you and Luna have been getting on well since I last saw you." Dean gave him a little shove, but he was smiling as Lupin stopped them and turned around to give them instructions.

"Stop, please! Now, the Death Eaters have not yet managed to get into the school grounds," Lupin said quickly and forcefully, wearing a grimace. "However, they will not be held up for very long. We believe that many of them will approach from within the forest, but they could easily come from any direction and, knowing Voldemort-" a collective shudder "-they probably will. We shall need to keep eyes open across the lake but also in the direction of Hogsmeade, whilst the others will guard the other side of the castle." He paused. "Please, whatever you do, do not break away from the group. There is safety in numbers, remember. Wands at the ready at all times." And so they stood there, shivering in the cold, butterflies in their stomachs, waiting for any sign of movement, any flash of light, any flap of black cloak, while the werewolf muttered protection spells around them. Dean was feeling useless, standing with nothing with which to protect himself or his friends, between the already battle-worn Seamus and the determined Luna.

It was five minutes to midnight. Nerves were stretched to breaking point. Dean jumped when Ernie Macmillan coughed behind him, and sent him a nervous smile. He still had no idea what he was going to do – he supposed he would just have to get a wand as soon as one of his friends won one. Before then, he would – what? Just follow them around, trying to stay out of trouble?

At precisely midnight, over the distant walls that bordered the grounds to the west came a group of long, black cloaks, flying rapidly towards the castle, whom they could just about see in the gloom as dark shadows. Further chills were sent up Dean's spine and everyone tensed as the sinister figures, still far away, approached. Lupin walked towards the flight path of the dark wizards, the others edging after him. A flash of red light told them that fighting had started on the other side of the castle. A few seconds of calm proceeded until Lupin shouted, "IMPEDIMENTA!" and a jet of blue light shot at the Death Eaters, stopping them in their tracks, and the fighters surged forwards, the ones at the front sending stunning spells.

The Death Eaters had landed and all twenty or so of them were now retaliating. Dean was now at the back of his group, feeling more and more helpless, but more and more excited as the fighting ensued. For a moment the group was impervious to the spells and curses sent at them, but not for long. Dean watched as Seamus and Luna fought alongside the others, weaving their wands expertly through the air, as they all formed a line. One of the Death Eaters had already managed to find the Venomous Tentacula that had been sent to protect Dean's group, but there were no casualties yet. Dean managed to duck a jet of red light that had flown over Luna's shoulder but saw another hit Demelza Robins moments after. She fell to the floor heavily and Dean rushed over to try and help.

The fighters next to Demelza Robins had dropped to the floor and were looking over her, checking her pulse. "She's still breathing," said a sixth year Hufflepuff when he saw Dean stop beside her.

"You get up and keep fighting," said Dean. "I'll try to take care of her for now." Parvati Patil, who had also knelt down next to Demelza, nodded and stood up too, just in time to jump out of the way of another jet of light.

Dean picked Demelza up from under her arms and dragged her over to the nearby wall, sitting her up. He made sure she could still breathe and then rushed back over to Seamus and Luna. He noticed that Lupin had been watching him, briefly. The older man nodded at him, and turned back to his adversaries.

"She's OK for now, Luna," panted Dean as he came to a halt.

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" shouted Luna at a Death Eater who was approaching. He beat the spell away easily but jumped back as Seamus sent a stunning spell. "We still have to watch out for Durdlegnats, though," she said, solemnly. "If some of them climb down the wall while she's uncon-" She could not finish the sentence, however, as Dean shouted and pulled her away sharply, as a jet of green light had just shot out from behind them. Heart beating more furiously by the second, Dean looked around to find the source of the curse. He shouted for people to look – there on the bank were another two Death Eaters, two more flying behind them. Luna quickly Disarmed one of the standing ones and Seamus Stunned one flying over the surface of the lake, who fell with a great splash. Luna gave Dean the wand she had caught.

"Thanks, Luna!"

"You're welcome, Dean," she replied pleasantly.

Now under fire from both sides, the defenders were in disarray. Another sixth year Gryffindor was stunned and, when Katie Bell was caught too, they began to feel a little thin on the ground. The Death Eater who had been disarmed was soon stunned by Lupin, but the one who had been flying had landed and just missed Parvati Patil with a Cruciatus Curse.

There was no time to help the injured; the Death Eaters who had arrived first were now approaching more quickly, but the remaining two by the lake were now duelling Seamus, Luna and Ernie Macmillan. Dean yelled "Stupefy!" at one, but there were only a few red sparks created by the Death Eater's wand. Cursing, he ran at the shorter one, who had his back to him and was fighting only Luna, and punched him in the back of his head. The man, still hidden under his hood, crumpled and fell on his hands and knees. Dean managed to kick his face and, tossing the other wand aside, seized this man's wand and cast a Full Body-Bind Curse, pleased to find that it worked perfectly.

"Thank you, Dean!" said Luna happily and she rushed to help oppose the other approaching wizards. Dean suddenly noticed that Parvati had nearly been cornered by two Death Eaters up against the wall, near Demelza. Luckily, they were too focused on her to notice him run up and yell "Petrificus Totalus!" He couldn't help but feel the momentary elation from the power in his right arm that had been absent for so long, but he had to stay focused. He had hit the Death Eater he was aiming for, but the other was now aware of his presence.

Dean ran up to Parvati and the two of them quickly became locked in battle with the wizard. This one seemed to be much more proficient than a lot of the other ones Dean had seen, and before he knew it he and Parvati had been completely cut off from the rest of the group, constantly firing spells at the Death Eater in vain or protecting themselves from the onslaught of Unforgivables. The constant ducking and weaving required soon had them following the castle wall around.

Another dark hooded wizard was running towards them, suddenly making Dean realise that the group of Death Eaters they had originally been fighting were now between him and his group. He shot another blocked disarming spell at the powerful Death Eater and then ducked a Stunning Spell sent by the new wizard, who shouted, "Alright, Dolohov?"

Just then, however, a terrible screaming started above their heads and several small shapes fell from over the wall above their heads. When a couple of them landed near his fight, Dean's head split open and he could see that Parvati, Dolohov and the other Death Eater had all grabbed their own ears too. All sensible thought was vanquished by the piercing screams that tore through his brain, and he could see lights popping up all over his vision. He ran, and he could not see any longer whether others were running too, or whether he was in danger. His flight instinct had taken over and he was sprinting for his life. Soon, however, he seemed to be running on air... and then he felt his knees scrape along the grass, and he flung his arms out in front of his face before consciousness completely vanished.

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**A/N: **Abrupt schmabrupt. Yes, it was Neville and his mandrakes. Now REVIEW! (Needy schmeedy)


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